Definiciones conceptuales

After it has become part of domestic legislation, the most important thing is the enforcement of the regulations. Although keeping a ship in good condition is ultimately the responsibility of the manager or owner of the vessel, the duty of ensuring those standards is up to the flag state.

Who is going to monitor and enforce compliance with the regulations and what resources are needed in order to monitor and enforce compliance are very important questions that must be dealt with by Administrations. The answers should be included in the legal framework.

5.1.2.1 Certification and Surveying

Administrations will have to certify that all vessels under their flag comply with the requirements of the new annex. This will be accomplished through the survey of vessels to finally issue the International Air Pollution Certificate (IAPP).

The IAPP is required for all ships of 400 GRT engaged in voyages to countries party to the protocol, and platforms and drilling rigs that are engaged in voyages to waters under the jurisdiction of countries party to the protocol. Ships constructed, before the entry into force of the Protocol will require an IAPP Certificate not later than the first scheduled dry dock after the entry into force and in no case later than 3 years after the entry into force of the Protocol. The IAPP Certificates cannot be issued to vessels flying the flag of countries that are not party to the Protocol.

The certificate shall be valid for a period not exceeding five years, and it will be subject to an initial survey, periodical surveys not exceeding five years, unscheduled surveys and at least one intermediate survey. In the event that the Administration decides to perform mandatory annual surveys, there will be no need for unscheduled surveys.

With the addition of this new certificate to the list of certificates that must be issued to ships by the Administration, the allocation of resources, including more personnel, will most definitely be needed. Those Administrations that do not count with the adequate resources to perform the verification themselves will have to entrust this task to classification societies or other recognized organizations.

By delegating this function to private organizations, the Administration will have to ensure that the work carried by these organizations is carried properly, and measures for verification should be established as required by the IMO. The increasing number of surveys that must be performed to ships tend to decrease the effective control that Administrations can have over their ships, specially those Administrations that do not have enough resources and that have to rely heavily on private organizations.

5.1.2.2 Type Approval

Under the new annex the Administration will be responsible to approve equipment that is required under the annex. This approval is necessary to attest that the equipment meet the technical specifications that are set in the annex and other IMO instruments. The approval of the Administration is required in order to be able to install the equipment onboard ships flying its flag.

Engines that fall under regulation 13 of the annex must be certified by the Administration for compliance with the NOx Technical Code. The certification of the engine will lead to the issuance of the EAPP certificate. In the transitional period, while the annex enters into force, Administrations should issue compliance documents to the applicable engines.

There are also other equipment under the annex that require type approval, namely incinerators, exhaust gas cleaning systems for NOx and SOx and alternative methods for compliance with provisions of the annex. These approvals are necessary in order to be able to issue the IAPP.

With this requirement, Administrations will need to have qualified personnel as well as resources to conduct proper and timely approval, for these equipment. Due to the very technical nature of the approvals, some Administrations may not count with the expertise necessary, and will have to utilize the services of classification societies for this purpose.

5.1.2.3 Vessels under 400 GRT

Under the annex vessels under 400 GRT do not require an IAPP certificate, but they still have to comply with the requirements of the annex, unless expressly provided otherwise. It will then up to the Administration to develop legislation to properly control these vessels.

For some Administrations, the development of these national regulations may prove to be difficult. Some Administrations do not count with the expertise necessary to develop such technical requirements.

A problem that arises here is when these vessels are subject to port state control. Since there is no specific requirement for a certificate, how will port state control verify compliance? Also, there is the possibility that the requirements established by the Administration will not be satisfactory to port state. In these cases, ships under 400 GRT will be controlled by port state requirements and not by flag’s state.

5.1.2.4 Vessels in Domestic Trade

Due to the transboundary effects of air pollution, vessels trading in domestic waters are still subject to the provisions of the annex. There is a provision where

Administrations may exempt vessels from the requirements of regulation 13 (NOx emissions) if they are engaged in domestic trade only, provided that they provide alternative measures for controlling NOx emissions. If Administration desire to exempt domestic vessels from the compliance of regulation 13, then they will have to develop alternate measures, which again will require expertise and resources.

5.1.2.5 Delegation to Classification Societies

Classification societies have become be an important link for the enforcement of requirements. Countries that do not have enough resources to conduct the surveying and certification of ships under their flag have relied on the services of classification societies.

Due to the infrastructure and resources available for most classification societies, Administrations have tended to rely more on them, which poses a serious problem. While classification societies are the ones that conduct the surveys and certify the ships, they do it under the authority of a government, which is ultimately responsible for the ship.

By having this function delegated to class societies, it becomes more difficult to exercise an effective control over the ships under their jurisdiction. In some instances, Administrations hardly ever have any contact with the ship, allowing for loopholes.

While it is true that some classification societies perform a good job, there have been instances where ships are found to be “rust buckets”, with all the certificates are valid without any remarks. In these cases, the Administrations are still responsible even when they did not certify the vessel themselves.

For this reason the IMO has set resolutions A.739(18) and A.789(19), which calls for Administrations to conduct screenings and proper control over classification societies and other recognized organizations. The problem here is that these are the same Administrations that did not have the resources to conduct the surveys in the first place. Now, how are they going to exercise proper control over this organizations?